Exhibition

Currently on display in Ancient Egypt Gallery, Level 3, World Museum

See it at:

About this object

Sample of black paint from a Fifth Dynasty mastaba at Meidum belonging to Prince Nefermaat, son of King Sneferu. Described by Flaxman Spurrell as "lamp black" in reference to his 1895 experiments with colours from ancient Egypt. Previously sealed within two circular concave pieces of glass (watch glass) with a paper label annotated MEDUM IV Lamp black NEFERMAT”. Since 1976 displayed within a sealed acrylic cube.

Author: Spurrell, Flaxman Charles JohnPublisher: Royal Archaeological InstituteDate: 1895Description: In 1895 Spurrell published ‘Notes on Egyptian Colours’ which was a culmination of several papers he had contributed to the Royal Archaeological Institute in the early 1890’s, based principally on material from Flinders Petrie’s excavations (1895, 222-39). At this point Petrie had supplied Spurrell with a full range of colour samples from the Fourth Dynasty to the Roman Period. These 50 colours are typically held between two watch glasses and are from fairly securely dated provenances: Fourth Dynasty (Meidum and Dahshur), Twelfth Dynasty (Lahun), Eighteenth Dynasty (Amarna), New Kingdom (Gurob) and Roman Period (Hawara). Spurrell validates his study by stating that ‘Mr. Petrie’s specimens have the special value of being correctly dated’ and disputes some earlier studies that used museum samples with no specific contextual data. Following typical Victorian ideas of progress and cultural evolution Spurrell’s study chiefly aims to ‘mark chronological changes’ from the Fourth to Eighteenth Dynasties (1895, 222).

Events

Start date:
1890End date:
1890Description:
Excavations directed by Flinders Petrie at Meidum. At this time Petrie's fieldwork was largely being sponsored by two men: Jesse Haworth (1835-1921) and Henry Martin Kennard (1833-1911). Petrie gave some of his finds to his close friend, Flaxman Spurrell (1842-1915), whose collection was given to Norwich Castle Museum which was then purchased by Liverpool Museum in 1956. Spurrell's collection includes pigments from Meidum.

This site uses cookies

We use cookies to allow you to use parts of the site, to provide extra services such as page translation, to help us analyse how our visitors use the site, and for marketing and advertising purposes. The site includes content and tools provided by third parties, such as social media platforms, who may also use cookies to track your use of this site.